System and method for manually selecting and deselecting devices to charge in a wireless power network

ABSTRACT

A system for selecting a deselecting charging devices in a wireless power network is disclosed here. The system includes a graphical user interface from which a user may select or deselect devices to be charged in a wireless power network. The disclosed system may store records from different components of a wireless power network into a database distributed throughout said network with copies stored within the memory of wireless power transmitters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/891,399 entitled Receivers For Wireless Power Transmission, filed May10, 2013, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/891,430 entitledMethodology For Pocket-Forming, filed May 10, 2013, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/891,445 entitled Transmitters For Wireless PowerTransmission, filed May 10, 2013, each of which are incorporated byreference in their entirety herein.

N/A

BACKGROUND

Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates in general to wireless powertransmission, and more specifically to a system software for enabling auser to select and deselect devices to charge in a wireless powertransmission network.

Background Information

Electronic devices such as laptop computers, smartphones, portablegaming devices, tablets and so forth may require power for performingtheir intended functions. This may require having to charge electronicequipment at least once a day, or in high-demand electronic devices morethan once a day. Such an activity may be tedious and may represent aburden to users. For example, a user may be required to carry chargersin case his electronic equipment is lacking power. In addition, usershave to find available power sources to connect to. Lastly, users mustplugin to a wall power socket or other power supply to be able to chargehis or her electronic device.

An approach to mitigate this issue may include using RF waves throughsuitable power transmission techniques such as pocket-forming. Thisapproach may provide wireless power transmission while eliminating theuse of wires or pads for charging devices. In addition, electronicequipment may require less components as typical wall chargers may notbe required.

In some cases, even batteries may be eliminated as a device may fully bepowered wirelessly. This approach may enable the creation of wirelesspower networks similar in structure to regular wireless local areanetworks (WLAN) where a wireless access point is used to provideinternet or intranet access to different devices. An access point orwireless transmitter may provide wireless power charging to differentreceiver devices.

Electric energy is an important and expensive resource. At timesimproper handling of electric energy may lead to waste of the valuableresource, in other cases too much electrical current may damage certaindevices. It may also be beneficial in some cases to allow power sourcesto prioritize certain devices over others. Thus, a need exists forselecting and deselecting devices to charge in a wireless power network.

SUMMARY

Disclosed is a system and method for managing a wireless power network.The wireless power network may include wireless power transmitters withan embedded wireless power management application. This powertransmitter manager application may include a device database whereinformation about receiver devices may be stored.

The wireless power network may include a plurality of client deviceswith wireless power receivers built in as part of the device or adaptedexternally. Wireless power receivers may include a power receiverapplication configured to communicate with the power transmitter managerapplication in a wireless power transmitter. Communication betweenwireless power transmitters and wireless power receivers may be achievedusing standard network communication protocols such as, Bluetooth,Bluetooth Low Energy, WIFI or the like.

The wireless power network may further include a wireless powerapplication. The wireless power manager may be a software application,which may be hosted in a computing device, which may be either a localor cloud-based physical or virtual server, or a mobile or hand-held orwearable computing device such as a smart phone, tablet, notebook,laptop or the like. The wireless power manager application maycommunicate with a power transmitter manager application to updateinformation in the wireless power manager's database at the transmitter,such as: statuses, power schedules, setting priorities, authenticationcredentials, present charge and tracking states, and the like. Wirelesspower manager may include a GUI which may be used by a user to performmanagement tasks in the wireless power transmission network. The GUI maybe a local application interface on the computer running the wirelesspower management application software, or the GUI may be one or more webpages hosted by said computer.

The wireless power manager may include a software GUI for automaticallyor manually selecting and deselecting one or more devices to be chargedin the wireless power network. The software GUI may include a charge offarea, displaying icons of all devices that are currently not beingcharged in the wireless power network. The software module mayadditionally include a charging area displaying devices in the wirelesspower network that are receiving charge. The software GUI mayadditionally include an automatic charge area displaying icons ofdevices that have charging enabled or disabled automatically. A user mayselect a device icon from either the charge off area or automatic chargearea and drag it to the charging area in order to enable the device toreceive charge in the wireless power network. A user may also selecticon devices from the either the charging area or the automatic chargearea and drag them to the charge off area in order to disable the devicefrom receiving charge. A user may also drag a device icon from eithercharge-off area or charging area to the automatic-charge area of theview screen, to command the wireless power transmitter to automaticallymake the decision to enable or disable charging the device based onstatus criteria, such as, but not limited to, time, physical location orhot spot, by user name, or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure can be better understood by referring to thefollowing figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe disclosure. In the figures, reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless power transmission example situation usingpocket-forming.

FIG. 2 illustrates a component level embodiment for a transmitter,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a component level embodiment for a receiver,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a wireless power networkincluding a transmitter an wireless receivers.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary embodiment of a Wireless Power Manager GraphicUser Interface (GUI).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process to manually enable power charging ofa device in a wireless power network.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for disabling a device from chargingin a wireless power network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is here described in detail with reference toembodiments illustrated in the drawings, which form a part here. Otherembodiments may be used and/or other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Theillustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are notmeant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here.

Definitions

As used here, the following terms may have the following definitions:

“Pocket-forming” may refer to generating two or more RF waves whichconverge in 3-d space, forming controlled constructive and destructiveinterference patterns.

“Pockets of energy” may refer to areas or regions of space where energyor power may accumulate in the form of constructive interferencepatterns of RF waves.

“Null-space” may refer to areas or regions of space where pockets ofenergy do not form because of destructive interference patterns of RFwaves.

“Transmitter” may refer to a device, including a chip which may generatetwo or more RF signals, at least one RF signal being phase shifted andgain adjusted with respect to other RF signals, substantially all ofwhich pass through one or more RF antenna such that focused RF signalsare directed to a target.

“Receiver” may refer to a device including at least one antenna element,at least one rectifying circuit and at least one power converter, whichmay utilize pockets of energy for powering, or charging an electronicdevice.

“Adaptive pocket-forming” may refer to dynamically adjustingpocket-forming to regulate power on one or more targeted receivers.

“Scheduling records” may refer to records stored in a database thatcontain information related to charging schedules and priorities ofdifferent receivers or devices.

“Power” sometimes is a colloquial reference to electrical energy, in thesense of “power transmission lines” which technically transmit energy,since “power” is the *rate* at which electric energy is transferred byan electric circuit. Thus, “wireless power transmission” within thecontext of this claim refers technically to mean “wireless energytransmission,” and “wireless power system” also means “wireless energysystem.”

“BTLE” or “BLE”: Bluetooth Low Energy communication hardware and/orsoftware.

“Charge” in the context of this invention, refers to when a wirelesspower receiver converts RF energy, being received by its antenna, intoelectrical energy that is transmitted through an electrical circuitconnection from said power receiver to an electrically connected clientdevice using said electrical energy to charge the battery of the clientdevice, if it has a battery, or to simply power the client device.

Description of the Drawings

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, and specific language will be used here to describe thesame. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scopeof the invention is thereby intended. Alterations and furthermodifications of the inventive features illustrated here, and additionalapplications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated here,which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and havingpossession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope ofthe invention.

Wireless Power Transmission System Including Disclosed Concepts:

Methods disclosed here may be part of a wireless power transmissionsystem including two or more wireless power transmitters, one or morewireless power receivers, one or more optional system managementservers, and one or more optional mobile or hand-held computers, smartphones, or the like, that run the system management GUI app. This appmay be made available at, downloaded, and installed from a publicsoftware app store or digital application distribution platform, such asApple's iTunes, Google's Play Store, Amazon's Appstore, and the like.

The power transmitters and management servers may all communicate witheach other through a distributed system database, and may alsocommunicate present status and any status change to a remote informationservice that may be located in the Internet cloud.

One or more wireless power transmitters may automatically transmit powerto any single wireless power receiver that is close enough for it toestablish a communication connection with, using a suitablecommunication technology, including Bluetooth Low Energy or the like.Said receiver may then power or charge an electrically connected clientdevice, such as mobile device, toy, remote control, lighting device, andthe like. A single wireless power transmitter may also power multiplewireless power receivers simultaneously.

Alternately, the system can be configured by the system management GUIto automatically only transmit power to specific wireless powerreceivers depending on specific system criteria or conditions, such asthe time or hour of the day for automatic time-based scheduled powertransmission, power receiver physical location, owner of client device,or other any other suitable conditions and/or criteria.

The wireless power receiver is connected electrically to a clientdevice, such a mobile phone, portable light, TV remote control, or anydevice that would otherwise require a battery or connection to wallpower. In one or more embodiments, devices requiring batteries can havetraditional batteries replaced by wireless power receiver batteries. Thewireless power receiver then receives energy transmitted from the powertransmitter, into receiver's antenna, rectifies, conditions, and sendsthe resulting electrical energy, through an electrical relay switch, tothe electrically connected client device to power it or charge it.

A wireless power transmitter can transmit power to a wireless powerreceiver, which, in response, can power or charge its associated clientdevice while device is in use or in motion anywhere within the powertransmission range of the wireless power transmitter. The wireless powertransmitter can power multiple devices at the same time.

The wireless power transmitter establishes a real-time communicationconnection with each receiver for the purpose of receiving feedback inreal-time (such as 100 samples per second). This feedback from eachreceiver includes the measurement of energy presently being received,which is used by the transmitter to control the direction of thetransmitter's antenna array so that it stays aimed at the receiver, evenif the receiver moves to a different physical 3-D location or is in 3-Dmotion that changes its physical 3-D location.

Multiple wireless power transmitters can power a given, single receiver,in order to substantially increase power to it.

When a transmitter is done transmitting power to a receiver, it maycommunicate to the receiver that power transmission has ended, anddisconnect communication. The wireless power transmitter may thenexamine its copy of the distributed system database to determine which,if any, receivers in power range it should next transmit power to.

FIG. 1 illustrates wireless power transmission 100 using pocket-forming.A transmitter 102 may transmit controlled Radio Frequency (RF) waves 104which may converge in 3-d space. These RF waves may be controlledthrough phase and/or relative amplitude adjustments to form constructiveand destructive interference patterns (pocket-forming). Pockets ofenergy 106 may form at constructive interference patterns and can be3-Dimensional in shape whereas null-spaces may be generated atdestructive interference patterns. A receiver 108 may then utilizepockets of energy produced by pocket-forming for charging or powering anelectronic device, for example a laptop computer 110 and thuseffectively providing wireless power transmission 100. In someembodiments, there can be multiple transmitters 102 and/or multiplereceivers 108 for powering various electronic devices, for examplesmartphones, tablets, music players, toys and others at the same time.In other embodiments, adaptive pocket-forming may be used to regulatepower on electronic devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates a component level embodiment for a transmitter 202which may be utilized to provide wireless power transmission 100 asdescribed in FIG. 1. Transmitter 202 may include a housing 204 where atleast two or more power transmitter antenna elements 206, at least oneRF integrated circuit (RFIC 208), at least one digital signal processor(DSP) or micro-controller 210, and one optional communications component212 may be included. Housing 204 can be made of any suitable materialwhich may allow for signal or wave transmission and/or reception, forexample plastic or hard rubber. Antenna elements 206 may includesuitable antenna types for operating in frequency bands such as 900 MHz,2.5 GHz or 5.8 GHz as these frequency bands conform to FederalCommunications Commission (FCC) regulations part 18 (Industrial,Scientific and Medical equipment). Antenna elements 206 may includevertical or horizontal polarization, right hand or left handpolarization, elliptical polarization, or other suitable polarizationsas well as suitable polarization combinations. Suitable antenna typesmay include, for example, patch antennas with heights from about ⅛inches to about 6 inch and widths from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch.Other antenna elements 206 types can be used, for examplemeta-materials, dipole antennas among others. RFIC 208 may include aproprietary chip for adjusting phases and/or relative magnitudes of RFsignals which may serve as inputs for antenna elements 206 forcontrolling pocket-forming. These RF signals may be produced using anexternal power supply 214 and a local oscillator chip (not shown) usinga suitable piezoelectric material. Micro-controller 210 may then processinformation sent by a receiver through its own antenna elements fordetermining optimum times and locations for pocket-forming. In someembodiments, the foregoing may be achieved through communicationscomponent 212. Communications component 212 may be based on standardwireless communication protocols which may include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi orZigBee. In addition, communications component 212 may be used totransfer other information such as an identifier for the device or user,battery level, location or other such information. Other communicationscomponent 212 which may be used include radar, infrared cameras or sounddevices for sonic triangulation for determining the device's position.

Multiple transmitter 202 units may be placed together in the same areato deliver more power to individual power receivers or to power morereceivers at the same time, said power receivers being within powerreception range of all the power transmitters 202.

FIG. 3 illustrates a component level embodiment for a receiver 300 whichcan be used for powering or charging an electronic device as exemplifiedin wireless power transmission 100. Receiver 300 may include a housing302 where at least one antenna element 304, one rectifier 306, one powerconverter 308 and an optional communications component 312 may beincluded. Housing 302 can be made of any suitable material which mayallow for signal or wave transmission and/or reception, for exampleplastic or hard rubber. Housing 302 may be an external hardware that maybe added to different electronic equipment, for example in the form ofcases, or can be embedded within electronic equipment as well. Antennaelement 304 may include suitable antenna types for operating infrequency bands similar to the bands described for transmitter 202 fromFIG. 2. Antenna element 304 may include vertical or horizontalpolarization, right hand or left hand polarization, ellipticalpolarization, or other suitable polarizations as well as suitablepolarization combinations. Using multiple polarizations can bebeneficial in devices where there may not be a preferred orientationduring usage or whose orientation may vary continuously through time,for example a smartphone or portable gaming system. On the contrary, fordevices with well-defined orientations, for example a two-handed videogame controller, there might be a preferred polarization for antennaswhich may dictate a ratio for the number of antennas of a givenpolarization. Suitable antenna types may include patch antennas withheights from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch and widths from about ⅛inches to about 6 inch. Patch antennas may have the advantage thatpolarization may depend on connectivity, i.e. depending on which sidethe patch is fed, the polarization may change. This may further proveadvantageous as a receiver, such as receiver 300, may dynamically modifyits antenna polarization to optimize wireless power transmission.Rectifier 306 may include diodes or resistors, inductors or capacitorsto rectify the alternating current (AC) voltage generated by antennaelement 304 to direct current (DC) voltage. Rectifier 306 may be placedas close as is technically possible to antenna element 304 to minimizelosses. After rectifying AC voltage, DC voltage may be regulated usingpower converter 308. Power converter 308 can be a DC-DC converter whichmay help provide a constant voltage output, regardless of input, to anelectronic device, or as in this embodiment to a battery 314. Typicalvoltage outputs can be from about 5 volts to about 10 volts. Lastly,communications component 312, similar to that of transmitter 202 fromFIG. 2, may be included in receiver 300 to communicate with atransmitter 202 or to other electronic equipment.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a wireless power network 400 inwhich one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may operate.Wireless power network 400 may include communication between wirelesspower transmitter 402 and one or more wireless powered receivers.Wireless powered receivers may include a client device 404 with anadaptable paired receiver 406 that may enable wireless powertransmission to the client device 404. In another embodiment, a clientdevice 438 may include a wireless power receiver 406 built in as part ofthe hardware of the device. Client device 404 may be any device whichuses an energy power source, such as, laptop computers, stationarycomputers, mobile phones, tablets, mobile gaming devices, televisions,radios and/or any set of appliances that may require or benefit from anelectrical power source.

In one embodiment, wireless power transmitter 402 may include amicroprocessor that integrates a power transmitter manager app 408 (PWRTX MGR APP) as embedded software, and a third party applicationprogramming interface 410 (Third Party API) for a Bluetooth Low Energychip 412 (BTLE CHIP HW). Bluetooth Low Energy chip 412 may enablecommunication between wireless power transmitter 402 and wireless powerreceivers 406. Wireless power transmitter 402 may also include anantenna manager software 414 (Antenna MGR Software) to control an RFantenna array 416 that may be used to form controlled RF waves which mayconverge in 3-D space and create pockets of energy around wirelesspowered receivers. In some embodiments, Bluetooth Low Energy chip 412may also be of other types of wireless communication protocols such asWiFi or the like.

Power transmitter manager app 408 may call third party applicationprogramming interface 410 for running a plurality of functions such asstart a connection, end a connection, and send data among others. Thirdparty application programming interface 410 may command Bluetooth LowEnergy chip 412 according to the functions called by power transmittermanager app 408.

Power transmitter manager app 408 may also include a database 418, whichmay store relevant information from client devices 404, and receivers406 such as, identification for a client device or power receiver,measured hardware values such as antenna voltage for a power receiver406, status, configuration, location, signal strength and/or anyrelevant information from a client device 404 or receiver 406.

Third party application programming interface 410 at the same time maycall power transmitter manager app 408 through a callback function whichmay be registered in the power transmitter manager app 408 at boot time.Third party application programming interface 410 may have a timercallback that may callback at the rate of ten times a second, and maysend callbacks every time a connection begins, a connection ends, aconnection is attempted, or a message is received.

Wireless power receiver 406 may include a power receiver app 420 (PWR RXAPP), a third party application programming interface 422 (Third partyAPI) for a Bluetooth Low Energy chip 424 (BTLE CHIP HW), and a RFantenna array 426 which may be used to receive and utilize the pocketsof energy sent from wireless power transmitter 402.

Power receiver app 420 may call third party application programminginterface 422 for running a plurality of functions such as start aconnection, end the connection, and send data among others. Third partyapplication programming interface 422 may have a timer callback that maycallback at the rate of ten times a second and may send callbacks everytime a connection begins, a connection ends, a connection is attempted,or message is received.

Client device 404 may be paired to an adaptable paired receiver 406 viaa BTLE connection 428. A graphical user interface (GUI 430) may be usedto manage the wireless power network from a client device 404. GUI 430may be a software module that may be downloaded from any suitableapplication store and may run on any suitable operating system such asiOS and Android, among others. Client device 404 may also communicatewith wireless power transmitter 402 via a BTLE connection 428 to sendimportant data such as client device identification, as well as batterylevel information, geographic location data, manual charge commands,power schedule configuration, or other information that may be of usefor the wireless power transmitter 402, and to receive information suchas configuration, or data for the generation of reports to the user,among others. Client device 404 may also communicate with wireless powerreceiver 406 in via BTLE connection 428 to receive information such hashardware measurement values, voltage at receiver antennas, powerreceiver's unique identification, and the like. The GUI and wirelesspower receiver 406 integrated as part of the hardware within clientdevice 438 may provide the same operation methods and functions as aseparate adaptable paired receiver 406.

A wireless power manager 432 software may be used in order to managewireless power network 400. Wireless power manager 432 may be a softwaremodule hosted in memory and executed by a processor inside a computingdevice 434. The wireless power manager 432 may include a GUI, app, hosta GUI web page, or support a GUI app on a mobile or hand-held device,from where a user 436 may see options and statuses, as well as executecommands to manage the wireless power network 400. The computing device434 may be connected to the wireless power transmitter 402 throughstandard communication protocols which may include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi orZigBee. Power transmitter manager app 408 may exchange information withwireless power manager 432 in order to control access from clientdevices, and control power transmission to power receiver of said clientdevices 404. Functions controlled by the wireless power manager 432 mayinclude, monitoring entire system, reporting all system activity andstatus, scheduling power transmission for individual devices, prioritiesbetween different client devices, access credentials for each client,physical location, broadcasting messages, and/or any functions requiredto manage the wireless power network 400.

Multiple wireless power transmitter 402 units may be placed together inthe same area to deliver more power to individual power receivers or topower more receivers at the same time, said power receivers being withinpower reception range of all said power transmitters 402.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless power charging UI 500.Wireless power charging UI 500 may be a software module hosted in memoryand executed by a processor in a computing device 534. Wireless powercharging UI 500 may be included as part of a wireless power managerapplication in order to select and deselect one or more wireless powerdevices to charge or power in a wireless power network.

Wireless power charging UI 500 may include a charge off area 502 whichmay display device icons that represent the different client devices 504that are not to have power transmitted to them in a wireless powernetwork. If the device, represented by a given icon, contains a batterythen its icon, or a sub-icon near the device icon may also additionallyinclude a charge level 506 icon which may serve as an indication ofbattery present charge or state and/or how much energy charge the clientdevices 504 battery, if any, possess at the moment.

Wireless power charging UI 500 may also include a charging area 508which may display icons that represent the different client devices 504that are receiving power from a wireless power transmitter in a wirelesspower network. Each icon may also include a charge level 506 icon whichmay serve as an indication of battery present charge state and/or howmuch energy charge the client device's 504 battery, if any, possess atthe moment. A client device 504 in the charging area 508 may alsoinclude additional indicators to show a device is charging. For exampleand without limitation, a client device 504 icon may be surrounded by aflashing or pulsating halo when the device is receiving power; inanother example the charge level 506 icon may be flashing; In yetanother example; the client device 504 may include transparentoverlapped text such as a message reading “Charging”.

User may drag and drop a client device 504 from the charge off area 502into the charging area 508 in order to begin charging a device. A usermay also select a client device 504 from the charging area 508 and dragand drop it into the charge off area 502 in order to stop charging thedevice. The user may perform this actions using known in the art UInavigation tools such as, a mouse click or touch screen for example.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing a process 600 by which a user maycharge a device in a wireless power network. The process may begin whena user accesses, logs on to, or begins to use the wireless powercharging UI (block 602). The wireless power charging UI may be asoftware module hosted in memory and executed by a processor in asuitable computing device, such as, a laptop computer, smartphone andthe like. The wireless power charging UI may be a software moduleimplemented as part of the wireless power manager application (describedin FIG. 4) used to manage a wireless power network. The wireless powercharging software may then query (block 604) a database stored in awireless power transmitter in order to extract records of all wirelesspower receivers in the wireless power network. The wireless powercharging UI may also create a local copy of the database in the memoryof the computing device hosting the wireless power charging UI. A copyof the database may be re-created and mirrored into each computingdevice in the wireless power network in order to create a distributeddatabase environment and enable sharing all the information across allcomputing devices in the wireless power network. Extracted informationmay include for example records indicating status of each wireless powerreceiver in the wireless power network, their associated client devices,battery level and charge status, owner, and/or any associatedinformation from the components in a wireless power network. Theextracted information may then be presented (block 606) and shown to theuser in a wireless power charging UI such as the one described in FIG.5. From the wireless power charging UI the user may select and hold theicon for the device he may desire to charge from the charge off screenarea of the wireless power charging UI (block 608). At this point theicon for the device may change or become highlighted in order toindicate that the device has been selected, for example the image of theicon may become larger when a user selects the device from the chargeoff area. The user may then drag the icon device from the charge offarea to the charging area (block 610). The wireless power charging UImay then update the database and send commands to the wireless powertransmitter (block 612) in order to begin charging the device. Thedatabase in the wireless power transmitter may then be updated with anynecessary information. The charging area of the wireless power chargingUI may then display an icon indicating that the selected device ischarging (block 614). The icon from the corresponding device may then beremoved from the charge off area of the wireless power charging UI.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart describing a process 700 by which a user maydisable a device from charging in a wireless power network. The processmay begin when a user accesses the wireless power charging UI (block702). The wireless power charging UI may be a software module hosted inmemory and executed by a processor in a suitable computing device, suchas, a laptop computer, smartphone and the like. The wireless powercharging UI may be a software module implemented as part of the wirelesspower manager application (described in FIG. 4) used to manage awireless power network. The wireless power charging software may thenquery (block 704) a database stored in a wireless power transmitter inorder to extract records of all wireless power receivers in the wirelesspower network. Extracted information may include for example recordsindicating status of each wireless power receiver in the wireless powernetwork, their associated devices, battery level and charge status,owner, and/or any associated information from the components in awireless power network. The extracted information may then be presented(block 706) and shown to the user in a wireless power charging UI suchas the one described in FIG. 5. From the wireless power charging UI theuser may select and hold the icon for the device he may desire to chargeoff, from within the charging area of the wireless power charging UI(block 708). At this point the icon for the device may change or behighlighted in order to indicate that the device has been selected, forexample the image of the icon may become larger when a user selects thedevice from the charging area. The user may then drag and drop the icondevice from the charging area to the charge off area(block 710). Thewireless power charging UI may then update the database and sendcommands to the wireless power transmitter (block 712) to disablecharging the device. The database in the wireless power transmitter maythen be updated with any necessary information. The charge off area ofthe wireless power charging UI may then display an icon of the deviceindicating that the selected device is no longer being charged (block714). The icon of the corresponding device may then be removed from thecharging area of the wireless power charging UI.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.Words such as “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the orderof the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader throughthe description of the methods. Although process flow diagrams maydescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be re-arranged. A process may correspond to a method,a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

Embodiments implemented in computer software may be implemented insoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguages, or any combination thereof. A code segment ormachine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, asubprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a softwarepackage, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures,or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another codesegment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information,data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments,parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via anysuitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing,network transmission, etc.

The actual software code or specialized control hardware used toimplement these systems and methods is not limiting of the invention.Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and methods weredescribed without reference to the specific software code beingunderstood that software and control hardware can be designed toimplement the systems and methods based on the description herein.

When implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable orprocessor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithmdisclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable softwaremodule which may reside on a computer-readable or processor-readablestorage medium. A non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readablemedia includes both computer storage media and tangible storage mediathat facilitate transfer of a computer program from one place toanother. A non-transitory processor-readable storage media may be anyavailable media that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such non-transitory processor-readable media maycomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othertangible storage medium that may be used to store desired program codein the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessedby a computer or processor. Disk and disc, as used herein, includecompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method oralgorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/orinstructions on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and/orcomputer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computerprogram product.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of selectively charging one ormore electronic devices in a wireless power network, the methodcomprising: providing a wireless power network comprising a controllingelectronic device that includes a display, at least one wireless powertransmitter, and a plurality of electronic devices each having anassociated wireless power receiver, wherein the controlling electronicdevice is distinct and separate from the at least one wireless powertransmitter; at the controlling electronic device: receiving datacomprising a charge status for each of the plurality of electronicdevices; displaying, on the display, representations of one or moreelectronic devices of the plurality of electronic devices; detecting auser selection of one of the representations corresponding to a deviceselected to be charged; and upon detecting the user selection, sending acommand to the at least one wireless power transmitter to transmit radiofrequency (RF) waves that constructively interfere with one another inproximity to a location of a wireless power receiver associated with thedevice selected to be charged.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein:displaying the representations of the one or more electronic devicescomprises displaying the representations of the one or more electronicdevices in a first region of the display; and the method furthercomprises, at the controlling electronic device: displaying, in a secondregion of the display that is adjacent to the first region of thedisplay, representations of one or more additional electronic devices ofthe plurality of electronic devices.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein:each of the one or more additional electronic devices represented in thesecond region of the display is currently receiving RF waves from one ormore wireless power transmitters included in the wireless power network;and each of the one or more electronic devices represented in the firstregion of the display is currently not receiving RF waves.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein detecting the user selection comprises: ceasing todisplay the user selected representation corresponding to the deviceselected to be charged in the first region of the display; anddisplaying the user selected representation in the second region of thedisplay.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein ceasing to display the userselected representation in the first region of the display anddisplaying the user selected representation in the second region of thedisplay comprises animating movement of the user selected representationfrom the first region of the display to the second region of the displayin accordance with a detected movement of the user selectedrepresentation.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising, at thecontrolling electronic device: detecting, in the second region of thedisplay, an additional user selection of the user selectedrepresentation corresponding to the device selected to be charged; andin response to detecting the additional user selection, sending anothercommand to the at least one wireless power transmitter to ceasetransmitting the RF waves.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein detectingthe additional user selection comprises: ceasing to display the userselected representation corresponding to the device selected to becharged in the second region of the display; and displaying the userselected representation in the first region of the display.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the wireless power network further includesa plurality of wireless power transmitters, including the at least onewireless power transmitter; the plurality of wireless power transmittersis assigned to a designated area; and the wireless power receiverassociated with the device selected to be charged is located within thedesignated area.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless powerreceiver associated with the device selected to be charged is within apredefined transmission range of the at least one wireless powertransmitter.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the datacomprises receiving the data from one or more of the plurality ofwireless power transmitters.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein each ofthe representations includes the charge status associated with the oneor more electronic devices.
 12. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, at the controlling electronic device: after sending thecommand to the at least one wireless power transmitter, adding anindicator to the user selected representation corresponding to thedevice selected to be charged to indicate reception of the RF waves bythe wireless power receiver associated with the device selected to becharged.
 13. A wireless power system, comprising: one or more wirelesspower transmitters; a plurality of electronic devices each having anassociated wireless power receiver; and a controlling electronic device,which is distinct and separate from the one or more wireless powertransmitters, having a display and configured to: receive datacomprising a charge status for each of the plurality of electronicdevices; display, on the display, representations of one or moreelectronic devices of the plurality of electronic devices; detect a userselection of one of the representations corresponding to a deviceselected to be charged; and upon detecting the user selection, send acommand to at least one wireless power transmitter of the one or morewireless power transmitters, wherein the least one wireless powertransmitter is configured to, upon receiving the command from thecontrolling electronic device, transmit radio frequency (RF) waves thatconstructively interfere with one another in proximity to a location ofa wireless power receiver associated with the device selected to becharged.
 14. The wireless power system of claim 13, wherein: therepresentations of the one or more electronic devices are displayed in afirst region of the display; and the controlling electronic device isfurther configured to: display, in a second region of the display thatis adjacent to the first region of the display, representations of oneor more additional electronic devices of the plurality of electronicdevices.
 15. The wireless power system of claim 14, wherein: each of theone or more additional electronic devices represented in the secondregion of the display is currently receiving RF waves from at least someof the one or more wireless power transmitters; and each of the one ormore electronic devices represented in the first region of the displayis currently not receiving RF waves.
 16. The wireless power system ofclaim 14, wherein detecting the user selection comprises: ceasing todisplay the user selected representation corresponding to the deviceselected to be charged in the first region of the display; anddisplaying the user selected representation in the second region of thedisplay.
 17. The wireless power system of claim 16, wherein ceasing todisplay the user selected representation in the first region of thedisplay and displaying the user selected representation in the secondregion of the display comprises animating movement of the user selectedrepresentation from the first region of the display to the second regionof the display in accordance with a detected movement of the userselected representation.
 18. The wireless power system of claim 16,wherein: the controlling electronic device is further configured to:detect, in the second region of the display, an additional userselection of the user selected representation corresponding to thedevice selected to be charged; and upon detecting the additional userselection, send another command to the at least one wireless powertransmitter to cease transmitting the RF waves; and the least onewireless power transmitter is configured to, upon receiving the othercommand from the controlling electronic device, cease transmission ofthe RF waves.
 19. The wireless power system of claim 18, whereindetecting the additional user selection comprises: ceasing to displaythe user selected representation corresponding to the device selected tobe charged in the second region of the display; and displaying the userselected representation in the first region of the display.
 20. Thewireless power system of claim 13, wherein: the one or more wirelesspower transmitters are assigned to a designated area; and the wirelesspower receiver associated with the device selected to be charged islocated within the designated area.